Ruby Parker: Musical Star. Rowan Coleman

quiet in the car while Nydia gave Dakshima the lowdown on Anne-Marie’s place. I was feeling nervous and not only because I’d be seeing all of the Academy kids again for the first time since the Valentine’s disco. I’d be seeing Danny too, and he was bound to be there with Melody. Anne-Marie had told me that despite her policy of inviting everyone she even vaguely knew, whether she liked them or not, she was happy to uninvite Danny and Melody if I wanted her to. And I had wanted her to, but I told her it was fine. I knew that they all still hung out with him at the Academy so it would have been silly for Anne-Marie not to invite him. Besides, I wanted him to see that I didn’t care any more, even though that was a total lie; he seemed to be stubbornly sticking around in my head despite my best efforts to get him out of it. Even a Valentine’s kiss for Hollywood High hunk Hunter Blake (as Teen Girl! Magazine called him) hadn’t dislodged Danny from my daydreams, which was highly inconvenient. I decided to try a bit of method acting to see if that worked. I thought if I acted like I didn’t give him a second thought for long enough, then pretty soon it would become true.

      It was funny that no matter how much I tired to give up acting, there was always a little part of me still doing it.